Get Ready For Bruins-Lightning Game 2 With The Best Plays From Game 1's Romp
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The term "must-win" gets thrown around much too liberally in the sports world, but that's only because the English language is lacking a bit when it comes to finding the middle ground between absolutely necessary and very urgent. In any event, when the Tampa Bay Lightning take the ice Monday night at home for Game 2 against the Boston Bruins, it won't be a "must-win." But it'll be pretty close.
Of course -- of course! -- climbing out of a 2-0 series hole would not at all be impossible. But you have to consider that the Lightning can't be feeling exceptionally confident after getting their doors blown off in Game 1. You'd also have to consider that the Bruins had a goal taken off the board thanks to a truly soft and poorly timed penalty call on David Pastrnak, and that the Lightning were basically gifted a goal from the hockey gods when Tuukka Rask's skate blade got knocked off, and that despite a week of rest, they were outworked by the Bruins, who had barely gotten their heart rates back to normal after playing a Game 7 a few days prior.
If they lose Game 2? And have to head to Boston, where they got absolutely dismantled during their last visit? That would be a problem, to say the least.
And for Tampa to avoid such a fate, they'll have to prevent the Bruins from pulling off plays like these ones, which arbitrarily have been ranked as the five best from Game 1.
HONORABLE MENTION: Tuukka Rask Chucking His Skate Blade
Oh, sure, you might be thinking it's dangerous to throw skate blades around a hockey rink. But as Rask himself said: "At least I didn't throw it at anybody." Can't argue with that.
The play was pretty controversial, because technically the rule says that play does not need to be stopped for such a matter. Practically, the referee said after the game that had he known there was a skate blade on the ice, he would have blown the play dead. That's just common sense; imagine a 100 mph slap shot hitting a skate blade? The results could make even Quentin Tarantino cringe.
In any event, good form by the Finn. Wonder if he played baseball as a youngster.
HONORABLE MENTION: Rick Nash Visits Snipe City
Honestly, Rick Nash has scored so many goals at this point in his career (307, to be precise) that one like this is probably too easy for him. David Krejci set a screen, and it was set in place for what felt like a half-hour before Nash uncorked a wrister to Andrei Vasilevskiy's blocker side. There was plenty of room open for Nash, but he still managed to make it a pure snipe with a ping off the post and in. It was in and out of the net so fast that play continued, but Nash was deep into his goal celebration, as if to say, "You foolish children, I have scored, let's pause and commemorate the moment."
HONORABLE MENTION: Rask Stones Palat
Maybe if Ondrej Palat had been able to one-time this shot, the highlight would be an Ondrej Palat goal instead of a Tuukka Rask save. But there are a lot of "ifs" in the wild and crazy sport of hockey. Rask made sure that the reality here was a save to keep the Bruins' lead at 3-2 in the final minute of the second period.
5. Marchand Sets Up Bergeron
It's playoff season around North America, which means most hockey fans see Brad Marchand and experience the deep, burning hatred that can only be inspired by the pestiest of pests. But what most of these fans often overlook is the fact that in addition to being the author of some very bad hits and the issuer of some random neck smooches, Brad Marchand is a world-class hockey player.
That's evident, of course, in the 159 goals and 326 points he's amassed over the past five seasons. It was clear even when the hockey world first met him back in the spring of 2011, when he scored 11 goals and assisted on eight more during the Bruins' Stanley Cup run.
And it was evident once again on Saturday, when he scored a goal and picked up three assists. Not a bad day. What could be considered his best assist came midway through the third period, with the Bruins leading 4-2. He received a pass from Pastrnak, easily stickhandled around Nikita Kucherov, casually skated around Palat, played mind games with Victor Hedman to force the D-man into shot-block mode and then nonchalantly sent a picture-perfect backhand feed to Bergeron in the slot. Bergeron one-timed it and scored, essentially crushing any hope the Lightning might have had of coming back in this one.
Brad Marchand: World-Class Hockey Player.
4. Rask Robs Stamkos
Picture this: The Bruins, having been taken to the extreme in a seven-game dogfight with the Maple Leafs, step onto the ice in Tampa, where the fans are going nuts and the NHL's No. 1 offense is awaiting them after taking a cool week to chill out following their five-game series win over New Jersey. And just two minutes into the game, the Lightning's best player takes that mayhem and elevates it to even higher levels by beating Tuukka Rask to take a 1-0 lead just 1:53 into the first period on the Lightning's very first shot of the game.
Would have been tough for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask made sure that one was a hypothetical scenario, too, by bursting left to right and keeping his shoulders high enough to rob Stamkos of what the goal scorer likely expected to be a gimme.
3. Nash's Next-Level Tip
Guys in the NHL score on tipped shots and redirects all the time. Even though such a feat requires incredible hand-eye coordination and athleticism, we've come to accept them as being par for the course. Case in point: Brad Marchand scored on a redirect of a Charlie McAvoy shot on Saturday, and you don't see that goal on here, do you?
But not all tips are created equally, and Nash's tip-in to get the Bruins on the board with a 1-0 lead was just phenomenal.
First, Nash adjusted to Pastrnak's shot being redirected by Anthony Cirelli's stick blade out near the blue line. And he managed to keep his eye on the puck's new path, despite Ryan McDonagh standing in his way. And the tip itself was something special, as Nash held his stick out in front of him and swept at the puck when it was between McDonagh's legs. Nash also managed to direct the shot down to the ice.
From there, it required some luck -- the puck bounced off the ice, hit Vasilevskiy in a private area, and somehow burrowed through his crotch and into the net. But the effort to redirect that shot was special, and Nash and the Bruins were rewarded with a 1-0 lead before the first intermission.
2. Pastrnak's Fake Shot/Feed To Bergeron
It's still very early in the postseason, but David Pastrnak is a candidate at this point for Conn Smythe, with his eight goals and five assists through eight games. Four of those assists came on Saturday, and none were sweeter than his feed to Bergeron in the opening minute of the second period to give Boston a 2-0 lead.
Considering Pastrnak's goal-scoring prowess (five goals in round one), Vasilevskiy had to respect the probability that Pastrnak would try to sneak a puck top shelf as he skated down the goal line from the corner. And when Pastrnak pivoted his body to square up with the net? Forget about any chance of a pass; Pastrnak was shooting.
Oh, but he was not. With his stick flexed for a shot and his eyes remaining locked in on the net, Pastrnak swept his stick across the puck to find Bergeron, who had been creeping out ever so subtly toward the left faceoff dot to make himself available. Bergeron one-timed the pass, and even though his shot was a fluttering knuckleball, Vasilevskiy had no chance to recover for that one.
The fake was so good that even defenseman Anton Stralman was thinking shot all the way. Had he kept his stick down on the ice, he would have been able to deflect the pass. But he lifted his stick slightly, allowing the puck to slide right on by.
1. Rask's Consecutive Shorthanded Saves
To reiterate, the Lightning led the NHL in goals scored this year -- and by a healthy margin. Their 290 goals were 17 more than Winnipeg at No. 2. The Lightning also boasted the third-best power play success rate in the league, and they scored the second-most power play goals.
Now remember the scenario: Marchand had just roofed a one-timer to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead, but the goal was immediately waved off because Pastrnak shoved Tyler Johnson a split-second before the shot. This is normally a hugely deflating moment for a hockey team, and if that team were to give up a goal on the resulting power play, the situation would have been doubly difficult.
That nearly happened, but Rask remained perfectly composed while making a toe save on a one-time blast by Hedman and then sliding to his right and suffocating an Alex Killorn bid on the rebound.
Rask would make one more save on Kucherov just seconds after the penalty expired, and then Nash would score on the aforementioned snipe to double Boston's lead.
With the final scoreboard reading 6-2, the game may have looked like a blowout from afar. But a moment like this -- a one-goal game, midway through the second period -- really could have pivoted one way or another, and it was critical in preventing the outcome from being very, very different.
BONUS: Jake DeBrusk's Toughness
I mean, it's playoff hockey and it's the Boston Bruins. These are the types of moments that may seem insignificant, and hey, maybe in the big picture they are. But in the moment, they're huge. And for a 21-year-old who's already excelled with six goals and two assists through his first eight playoff games, the kid now has a blood-and-guts moment that was indicative of what it took to earn a decisive road playoff victory against the top team in the Eastern Conference.
One of those six goals for DeBrusk came after this shift, when he buried an empty-netter to officially extinguish Tampa's hopes. It was, to say the least, well-earned.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
